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COPCON
The Comando Operacional do Continente (COPCON, ) was a military command for Portugal created by the Armed Forces Movement in the period following the revolution of 25 April 1974 and was dissolved after the failed far left coup of 25 November 1975. COPCON was created on 8 July 1974 by President António de Spínola, with the aim of protecting the democratic process initiated by the Carnation Revolution. It consisted of special military forces such as marines, paratroopers, commandos, military police. Copcon chief Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, accumulated Copcon with the command of the Military Region of Lisbon, assuming himself as one of the drivers of the Revolutionary Process also known as PREC. He was one considered to be of the most powerful persons during this revolutionary period. Otelo {{unreferenced, date=January 2019 Otelo was the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly know ...
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Otelo Saraiva De Carvalho
Otelo Nuno Romão Saraiva de Carvalho, GCL (; 31 August 1936 – 25 July 2021) was a Portuguese military officer. He was the chief strategist of the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon. After the Revolution, Otelo assumed leadership roles in the first Portuguese Provisional Governments, alongside Vasco Gonçalves and Francisco da Costa Gomes, and as the head of military defense force COPCON. In 1976, Otelo ran in the first Portuguese presidential election, in which he placed second with the base of his support coming from the far-left. In the 1980s he founded a leftist terrorist organization that sought to undermine the very democracy that resulted from the 1974 Carnation Revolution where he had had a leading role. Otelo was tried and sentenced for being a leading member of the terrorist group Forças Populares 25 de Abril, which killed 19 people in several terrorist attacks. In 1996, the Portuguese Parliament voted to pardon him and several others who had been sentenced for FP ...
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Processo Revolucionário Em Curso
The Processo Revolucionário Em Curso (PREC) (English: ''Ongoing Revolutionary Process'') was the period during the Portuguese transition to democracy, which started after a failed right-wing coup d'état on 11 March 1975, and ended after a failed left-wing coup d'état on 25 November 1975. This far-left politics, labor movement-inspired period was marked by political turmoil, right-wing and left-wing violence, instability, the nationalization of companies and forcible occupation and expropriation of private lands.Hammond, John L. Building popular power: Workers' and neighborhood movements in the Portuguese revolution. Monthly Review Press, 1988. Background By 1974, half of Portugal's GDP and the vast majority of its armed forces were engaged in wars in three of Portugal's African colonies. Whereas other European powers had ceded independence to their former African colonies in the 1960s, Portuguese dictator António Salazar had refused to even countenance the option of ind ...
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Armed Forces Movement
230px, A mural dedicated to the MFA, it reads: "Towards freedom. Long live the 25th of April!" The Armed Forces Movement ( pt, Movimento das Forças Armadas; MFA) was an organization of lower-ranking, politically left-leaning officers in the Portuguese Armed Forces. It was responsible for instigating the Carnation Revolution of 1974, a military coup in Lisbon that ended Portugal's corporatist New State regime () and the Portuguese Colonial War, which led to the independence of Portugal's overseas territories in Africa. The MFA instituted the National Salvation Junta () as the provisional national government 1974 to 1976, following a communiqué of its president, António de Spínola, at 1:30 a.m. on 26 April 1974. Causes of the revolutionary coup The military-led coup can be described as the necessary means of bringing back democracy to Portugal, ending the unpopular Colonial War where thousands of Portuguese soldiers had been commissioned into military service, and replacing t ...
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Commandos (Portugal)
The Commandos ( pt, Comandos) are a special forces unit in the Portuguese Army. Presently, their parent unit is the Commando Regiment (''Regimento de Comandos''). Their motto is '' Audaces Fortuna Juvat'' (Latin for "Luck Protects the Bold") and their war cry is ''Mama Sumae'' (it can be translated as "here we are, ready for the sacrifice" – taken from a Bantu tribe of southern Angola). They were created in Angola during 1962, in the scope of the Portuguese Overseas War, as counter- guerrilla forces, thus responding to the need of the Portuguese Army to have special units specially adapted to the type of war. Initially operating in the Angolan theatre, later units of Commandos also operated in the Portuguese Guinea and Mozambique theatres The Portuguese Commandos are analogous to the 75th Ranger Regiment of the US Army. Commando Regiment The Portuguese Army Commando troops constitute the Commando Regiment (RCmds), a base unit that reports to the Headquarters of t ...
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Movement Of Socialist Left
The Movement of Socialist Left ( pt, Movimento de Esquerda Socialista, MES) was a Portuguese socialist party, founded shortly after the democratic Carnation Revolution. The party has its roots in a group of Progressive Christianity, Progressive Christians and Radical Socialists that abandoned the Portuguese Democratic Movement/Democratic Electoral Commissions in 1970, still during the dictatorial regime led by Marcello Caetano. In 1974, the initial group was joined by a group dissidents from the Portuguese Socialist Party, Socialist Party. The party only participated in two elections, both parliamentary elections, in 1975 and 1976, gathering 1.0% and 0.6% in each election, respectively. Among the Party's top figures were César Oliveira, Jorge Sampaio, João Cravinho, Ferro Rodrigues and Augusto Mateus. The majority of the Party's members would later join the Socialist Party, Jorge Sampaio would become the President of Portugal in 1996 and Ferro Rodrigues would become the leader ...
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Brigadas Revolucionárias
The Brigadas Revolucionarias (BR) were a terrorist organization active in Portugal between 1970 and 1980. Founded in 1970 by a group of dissidents from the Portuguese Communist Party, the BR were initially led by Isabel do Carmo, Carlos Antunes and Pedro Goulart, who were unhappy with the pacifist narrative of the Communist Party. The first bomb attack took place on November 7, 1971, against the NATO facilities in Fonte da Telha, Portugal. Most of its members were previously in the Communist Party, in particular Carlos Antunes and Isabel do Carmo, who kept Communist Party dominant no-kill narrative and preferred spectacular and media-centric actions instead. Despite the overthrown of the Portuguese dictatorship in 1974, the BR did not abandon armed violence. The BR become frustrated with the end of the revolutionary period, the beginning of the consolidation of democracy and the preparation of Portugal’s entry into the European Economic Community (EEC). Accordingly, they carri ...
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Portuguese Workers' Communist Party
The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Re-Organized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat ( pt, Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses/Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado, PCTP/MRPP) is a Maoist political party in Portugal. History and overview The party was founded in 1970 with the name Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado (MRPP), led by Arnaldo de Matos. It changed its name to the Portuguese Workers' Communist Party in 1976. The PCTP-MRPP has held a Maoist political orientation since its foundation. In 1971, the party began to publish a newspaper called "''Luta Popular"'' (People's Struggle), directed by Saldanha Sanches. The party was among the most active resistance movements before the Carnation Revolution, especially among students in Lisbon. After the revolution, the MRPP achieved fame for its large murals. The party became intensely active during 1974 and 1975. At that time, the party boasted members who later became importa ...
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Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people, being the List of urban areas of the European Union, 11th-most populous urban area in the European Union.Demographia: World Urban Areas
- demographia.com, 06.2021
About 3 million people live in the Lisbon metropolitan area, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the Iberian Peninsula, after Madrid and Barcelona. It represents approximately 27% of the country's population.
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Alentejo
Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alentejo. It corresponds to the districts of Beja, Évora, Portalegre, and Alentejo Litoral. Its main cities are Évora, Beja, Sines, Serpa, Estremoz, Elvas, and Portalegre. It has borders with Beira Baixa in the north, with Spain (Andalucia and Extremadura) in the east, Algarve in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean, Ribatejo, and Estremadura in the west. Alentejo is a region known for its traditional polyphonic singing groups, similar to those found in Tuscany, Corsica, and elsewhere. History The comarca of the Alentejo became the Alentejo Province, divided into upper (Alto Alentejo Province) and lower (Baixo Alentejo Province) designations. The modern NUTS statistical region, Alentejo Region, was expropriated from the medieval provi ...
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Portuguese Paratroopers
The Portuguese Paratroopers ( pt, Tropas Paraquedistas) are an elite infantry assault force, representing the bulk of the airborne forces of Portugal. They were created in 1956 as part of the Portuguese Air Force, being transferred to the Portuguese Army in 1993. Presently, most of the Paratroopers are part of the Portuguese Rapid Reaction Brigade which comprises all 3 special forces troops. The Portuguese Paratroopers were usually nicknamed "Paras" or "Green Berets" (''Boinas Verdes''). Organization Until 2006, the Portuguese Paratroopers formed an autonomous command within the Army, the Airborne Troops Command (''Comandos de Tropas Aerotransportadas'') or CTA. All parachute units and most of the Paratroopers were under that command. The CTA was also responsible for the selection of the future Paratroopers and for their training. The main operational formation of the CTA was the Independent Airborne Brigade (''Brigada Aerotransportada Independente'') or BAI. The CTA was created ...
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Portuguese Army
The Portuguese Army ( pt, Exército Português) is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its origins going back to the 12th century, it can be considered one of the oldest active armies in the world. The Portuguese Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Army (CEME), a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for the operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Ministry of National Defense for all other matters. The CEME is the only officer in the Army with the rank of General (Four-star rank). Presently, the Portuguese Army is an entirely professional force made of career personnel (officers and NCOs) and of volunteer personnel (officers, NCOs and enlisted ranks). Until the early 1990s, conscripts constituted the bulk of the Army personnel, with a cadre of career officers and NCOs respons ...
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Portuguese Marine Corps
The Portuguese Marine Corps ( pt, Corpo de Fuzileiros, meaning literally "Corps of Fusiliers") constitutes the Elite Commando Raid Force and Special Operations branch of the Portuguese Navy . It has roles similar to the ones of the United States Marine Corps Reconnaissance Battalions, USMC Reconnaissance Battalions and of the Royal Marines, Royal Marine Commandos. The Corps is specialised in amphibious warfare, coastal reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare, raids, maritime interdiction and naval boarding, boarding operations. It is an elite light infantry force, operating as a rapid-reaction force. Today’s Corpo de Fuzileiros is the premier raid force. The ''fuzileiros'' remains an all-volunteer force with an intensive screening and selection process followed by combat-focused training. ''Fuzileiros'' are resourced to maintain exceptional proficiency, experience and readiness. History The Portuguese Marines ( pt, Fuzileiros) have their direct origin in the old ...
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